Emery’s soulful son: Lou Pomanti

BY SEAN DELANEY

From working with Patsy Gallant to touring with Blood, Sweat and Tears, Lou Pomanti has always added a little soul to the scene. And many may not know the talent that brews that soul was bred right here in Emery Village.

Pomanti moved to Emery 45 years ago, in 1960. His earliest memories lie in the rough of the Humber Valley.

“I have very vivid memories of it,” he said. “One of the great things about being a kid here was that the Humber Valley was my backyard.”

Thirty second rides on their bikes would carry he and his friends to the paths and trails that would steward their adventure.

“We were growing up in the suburbs, but we might as well have grown up in the country, it was right there.”

It was the era of moms and dads that would kick the children out of the house for long periods of the day, and in his adventures he noticed a particular breed in his neighbourhood.

“The whole subdivision I grew up in, we had a lot of musicians who grew up in that area.”

He’d see them walking around with their long hair, their guitars, their cases and, “I just thought how cool that was.”

He began tinkling the keys himself at 12 years old. He didn’t have the quality of teaching he needed early to really progress, he said, but the first year of senior high school brought him an introduction to teacher Ken Jones.

“He was fantastic,” Pomanti said. “He put on the high school musicals, and I still talk to him today on Facebook.”

The young Pomanti joined the school’s music program and the stage band. He found the medium productive and made close friends. Teacher support fell off, but he and his friends simply kept it up. When he advanced to post secondary, he expected to join the University of Toronto. But a year off, and some persistent pushing by those close friends, saw him join Humber College and their jazz school.

By the age of 20 he was out, one year away from a finish. He was working too much in his final year and decided on the gigs over the textbooks.

“I was playing in blues and rock bands, and in 1978 got my big break,” he said.

Patsy Gallant, a star in the disco scene out of Montreal, called.

He’d been making peanuts doing lounge gigs. If it was a one nighter it might be $80, a week of solid work might get him $200.

Gallant was paying $1,000 a week.

A year into touring with Gallant he was made her music director. The experience led to work in Charlottetown, P.E.I. at the annual Anne of Green Gables festival. He had a call from Venezuela, and the next thing he knew, he was touring with Blood, Sweat and Tears.

He was on the road from 1980 to 1982. His network began to grow, and he met musicians, producers, agents and more.

“The levels and opportunities simply grew,” he said.

By 1983 he settled into studio work. Instead of another band and another crack at the lifestyle, he enjoyed settling down. For almost a decade he didn’t play live, as music became a job.

“In the morning you may play a jingle, then in the afternoon you could do a TV show on CFTO, then at night, you could be working on an album – Platinum Blond, Gordon Lightfoot, whatever. That went on for 15 years. The pay is way better. And it’s gratifying. You’re always doing something different, as opposed to joining a band and playing the same thing every night.”